How to Grow Oregano Microgreens in 5 Easy Steps

Oregano is a peculiar herb. It has an earthy, pungent flavor that’s only paired with certain foods. This herb also takes three to four weeks just to form cotyledons. As such, oregano microgreens are much less popular than clover or spinach microgreens. However, the unique flavor helps oregano fill a very specific niche: Mediterranean food!

If you like to cook tomato-based soups and dishes, particularly Italian and Greek cuisine, oregano microgreens need a place on your microgreen list. Their unique, spicy flavor is hard to replace with other herbs, even those also from the mint family. Plus, oregano grown as microgreens is more sweet in flavor than mature oregano.

Oregano greens sprout ghostly cotyledons atop dark-colored stems. These tiny leaves are full of nutrients, particularly antioxidants and dietary fiber. They have excellent antiseptic properties and were historically used to fight various illnesses (including snake bites!).

Though they take longer to grow than other microgreens, micro oregano herbs are worth it if you like their taste and aroma. In this guide, we’ll cover all the details of growing oregano – and many different types of herbs – as microgreens.

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What You’ll Need

Here are the basic supplies you need to grow microgreens. You might find everything you need in your cupboard, but if not we have some excellent products available in the Epic shop.

Seed

You can use common Italian oregano seed or experiment with some different varieties. There are plenty of choices with varying tastes. Some of the most popular are True Greek, Syrian, or golden oregano. Oregano is often confused with its sister taxa marjoram and nicknamed “wild marjoram” (marjoram herbs are said to taste sweeter). Whichever herbs you choose, get at least an ounce of seeds per growing tray.

Containers

Since we harvest microgreens before the roots grow deep, we’ll use shallow trays. 10×20 growing trays are available at most garden stores and online. For each harvest, you’ll need one tray with good drainage holes and one solid tray for covering.

Growing Medium

Seeds need a fine texture to germinate, so we recommend using a seed starting mix or coconut coir hydrated with water. You can also use a 50/50 mix of potting soil and rehydrated coconut coir. This combination offers excellent moisture retention and good drainage.

Grow Lights

For indoor planting, grow lights are ideal for providing consistent lighting. For beginners, we suggest small or standard grow lights. Alternatively, you can place the trays on a sunny windowsill, rotating them every few days to prevent the germinating seeds from leaning toward the light.

Extras

There are a few extras to gather together, like a good sharp pair of pruning shears or scissors to harvest the herbs, a small weight of around five pounds, a misting bottle for watering in hot weather, and a heating mat if growing indoors.

Growing Oregano Microgreens

They may be less popular choices, but oregano microgreens have the same growing conditions and process as most herb microgreens. If you’ve grown microgreens before, you’ll have no problem getting a harvest out of this herb.

There are a few types of microgreens that need a pre-soaking before planting, but oregano isn’t one of them! The tiny seeds are able to shoot up without extra help from a pre-soak.

Step 1: Plant

We’ll get started by prepping the growing trays. It’s important that excess moisture can drain out, so use the growing tray with holes in the bottom. Fill it near the brim with seed-starting soil or coconut coir. Smooth out the soil surface and give it a misting of water.

Next, sprinkle your oregano seeds in a thin layer across the soil. Spread them all the way to the edges, but make sure the seeds don’t overlap too much. Give them another mist of water so they can start to germinate.

Step 2: Cover

Instead of covering the seed with soil, place your second growing tray directly on top of them (both trays will be upright). This will block out all the sunlight and force the seeds to grow strong roots and stems. Set a small weight on top of the cover tray for good measure.

In order to get a lush mat of greens, we need a germination rate of 90%. To help achieve this, you can place a heating mat under the tray. You should also peek under the tray every few days to make sure there’s enough moisture. 

Step 3: Grow

Your oregano seeds will germinate in five to seven days. After that, give them a few more days under the cover to really establish themselves in their tray. When the pale green stems are ready for some light, they’ll push up the cover tray – weight and all!

After removing the cover tray, position your grow light a foot directly above the seedlings. Turn it on for about 16 hours daily to ensure the herbs get enough light. The baby plants will quickly stretch up to the light and unfold their green leaves.

Since it takes so long for the leaves to form, you’ll likely need to water your oregano plant. Instead of watering overhead, which can invite bacteria, add water from the bottom of the tray. Simply add a few inches of water to the tray previously used as a cover and set the microgreen tray instead. Give your microgreen herbs 10-15 minutes to absorb water through the drainage holes and soil before removing the tray.

Step 4: Harvest

Microgreens are usually harvested just after the cotyledons have opened. For oregano, this will be anywhere from 16-22 days after planting. Harvest the bright green leaves by snipping the stems in bunches. To keep the micros taste as fresh as possible, stop watering 12 hours before harvesting.

As they grow out of the microgreen stage and into full plants, the mild flavor of these herbs changes. While all taste good, most gardeners prefer to harvest for a certain flavor. We recommend taste-testing your microgreen herbs as they grow. If you do this with your first crop, you’ll know exactly when to harvest everything the second time you grow them.

Unfortunately, these herbs don’t regrow after each harvest. Instead, compost the soil, wash the trays, and replant a new batch.

Step 5: Store

Right before preparing your micros, wash them in cold water. Use oregano’s flavor and health benefits by adding it to fish, soups, or Mediterranean dishes (it’ll enhance the flavor of tomato sauce). Not only will the micros taste delicious, but they’ll also decorate your cooking when used as a garnish.

To keep your micro stems, leaves, and flavor as fresh as possible, keep them as dry as possible. While microgreens aren’t dried out like normal herbs, they can be wrapped in paper towels and sealed in a container. Stash the greens in the crisper drawer of your fridge and use them up within a week.